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Filmed in Greece, May
2005
Released at the Toronto
Film Festival, 13 September 2005
No news yet of a DVD release - if you
have any info, please contact us!
Director : Udayan Prasad
Screenwriters : Christina
Concetta and Raman Singh
Producers : Elliot Kastner
and UK-based Cinema Seven in co-production with Greece's NIK-S Movies.
A romantic comedy about
an American archeologist in Greece, set on the Greek island of Patmos
and starring Matthew Modine
and Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter, Stage
Beauty, Sleepy Hollow). Modine plays an American
archeologist who travels to Greece to continue the work of his late
father - finding the Chalice of St John. Griffiths plays a
colleague of Modine's character's father.
Opa is a Greek word expressing surprise
or excitement.
| CAST : |
|
| Matthew Modine |
Eric |
| Richard Griffiths |
Tierrney |
| Agni Scott |
Katerina |
| Alki David |
Spiros Kakogiannis |
Shuler : "My character in Opa! is named 'Big Mac
McLaren' who is a
demolitions expert hired to "dispose of" or relocate a tavern
that is on desired land. He is a big fella from Tulsa, Oklahoma - so I
had to really dig deep to find him!"
"And there's a film that I just finished in Greece that actually
premièred up in Toronto called Opa! and that's with Matthew
Modine. It's a light-hearted comedy/romance based on the Cup of John,
the mythological chalice that people have been looking for. We filmed it
on the island of Patmos, which was where the Book of Revelations was
written. Just being over there for a few weeks on this island was beyond
words." Shuler in interview
with Playbill's Andrew Gans
Set in the sun-drenched Greek
islands, Opa! recalls the innocence and cross-cultural passions of Jules
Dassin and Melina Mercouri in Never on Sunday. An old-fashioned romance
in many ways, Udayan Prasad’s newest film is a charming, light-hearted
delight .......... Udayan Prasad, whose My Son the Fanatic found so much
vitality and humour in a controversial storyline, uses the same charm
and wit to bring this tale to life. While the film gently alights on
themes of identity and the price of scientific certainty, its goal is
simple and sincere at heart: to bring back the earthy charms of true
love in the most exotically beautiful of environments. (Noah Cowan,
Toronto International Film Festival)
Opa! is a delightful, breezy little romantic comedy that doesn't
offer any great shakes in terms of characters or plotting, but is
surprisingly compelling from start to finish, thanks primarily to the
engaging performances and breathtaking scenery. Matthew Modine plays
Eric, an American archeologist who arrives in Greece intending to
unearth a rare artifact that his father spent his entire career
pursuing. Shortly after arriving, Eric finds himself falling for the
beautiful owner of a local tavern named Katerina (Agni Scott), although
the budding romance is soon threatened by the revelation that said
artifact just happens to be buried underneath Katerina's establishment
(which would, of course, have to be demolished during the excavation).
It's not at all difficult to figure out where all of this is going, and
yet it's hard not to be drawn into the relatively simple storyline. (David
Nusair, Reel Film Reviews)
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